All's Fair in Fear and Panic
by KitCat Italica
Summary: Whatever this is, it's not fair that this happened to them. And it's definitely making them scared. But at least they can be scared together. Harvey/Crane
1. A Morning of Contemplations

All's Fair in Fear and Panic

Harvey stares out the window of the too-clean apartment. Never liked a place _this_ clean. But there's no arguing with the other one. The one who's still asleep. It's his place anyway. They have to at least respect each others' boundaries. Otherwise, it would all go to hell. Maybe it's already gone there, and they're just trying to ignore the obvious fact that they're way too far in over their heads by now. But at least they can pretend it doesn't matter. For the time being.

The skyline looks so beautiful this morning. His eyes scan the rooftops, lingering over the MCU, where he made his pact with Gordon and that damned dark crusader all those years ago. The sun had set over his fate that day. But now at just past seven in the morning it rises, casting a warm, vibrant halo over the dark silhouettes of the urban jungle. Maybe it's significant somehow. At the moment though, he fails to see how the sun still possesses the urge to revisit a world as unfairly decadent as this.

And, as always, he thinks of her. He will never forget Rachel. Even with this new turn of events, he'll never forget her face, her perfect brown eyes, her sunshine smile that greeted him every day. She was the real sunrise. The light before his eyes now seems a cheap imitation by comparison. She was the reason behind it all. When she was still…alive…life made sense. Now nothing makes sense. Especially not his current predicament. It's all a diversion, really, to hide the truth of a mad world. But now he's not quite so sure that what's happened _is_ the true diversion. Last night, somehow, meant something. What exactly, he's afraid to ask.

The other stirs, and he immediately diverts his attention back to the window. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't even realized his gaze had drifted to his sleeping companion. Just another innocuous action to nag at his mind, to wonder at its significance.

It had all started out as a chance meeting. In truth, he had hated the other from the get-go. And he was sure the other had hated him, too. The first time they had met face-to-two-face, he had ended up giving the man a gunshot wound to the shoulder after getting a face full of hallucinogen. Not a pleasant experience. Even worse when he realized their shared history with Rachel. The revelation that the other had once poisoned her with the intent of murder had ended with another all-out brawl, the likes of which neither one was likely to forget.

But soon, it happened. By complete accident. Then they just spiraled downward from there. They hated it, both of them, and made sure that the other knew the extent of their negative feelings to the last. Seven long months of hating. Seven months of frustrations and rage. Seven months of crawling back to the apartment, only to leave in a huff, then to repeat the cycle all over again like a mouse on a wheel. But at least the mouse had the sense not to question its repetitive actions.

But up to this point, his emotions had been clear. The one absolute that he could cling to was that he hated him. Now, he wasn't even sure of that anymore. Not if last night had anything to do with it.

It would never be as he would love Rachel. His life with her would have been perfect. They would have healed in the hospital from their ordeal, gotten married, and would have left Gotham forever to start a family and get away from the haunting past. It would have been paradise for him. A paradise now lost. Wiped clean from the future with a flame of death in the night.

It would never be as the knight and the clown were, either. Oh, yes, he knew about that one, too. Riddler wasn't the only one who could solve puzzles when he saw them. He had heard things, had even seen them for himself. The terrorist and the vigilante were very much in love; so much, in fact, that love wasn't even a strong enough word for it. Their bond was more tightly knit than probably any mortals'. It was made of something far more timeless than anything to be found on Earth. Their relationship spoke of the divine, of something worthy of the two gods that they were. No one loved as deeply as the two of them.

He wasn't even sure if what he had right now could be called love. But as Jonathan Crane slunk up behind him to loop his arms around Harvey Dent's chest, the ex-lawyer decided that – whatever it was – maybe for the two of them, it was enough.

* * *

**'Kay, I know I haven't updated for a loooong time (stupid studying for finals), but I spun this out yesterday afternoon after playing with it for a few days in my head. I know Crane is asexual in canon, and I know that on this site he's usually got Harley and/or Sherry to deal with (kudos to you Toccata), and I know that in canon Harvey is too tied up with Rachel's death to ever move on, but...I need me some Cillian Murphy/Aaron Eckhart action BAD. So why not with each other? ^.^**

**Yeah, still not sure if I like this one, but I decided, WTF, I'll post it and see what happens. If you hate it, whatever. If you like it, thanks. If you stopped reading after ten seconds, then...you won't be reading this part at the bottom, but that's cool, too. Do whatever you want.**

**Oh hey, fun fact! Okay, so a friend of mine let me borrow a book of the first few printed Batman comics like EVER, and...MY LAST NAME APPEARS IN THE SECOND FRAME OF THE ENTIRE SERIES! SUCK IT, BITCHES! 8D Yeah, made me very proud. It's a sign, I tell you. And if you use that info to try to track me down, good luck, there's lots of us here on this Earth. And Heathus Christ will smite you for meaning ill will towards his future wife...I mean, ahem, who said that? *shifty eyes* **

**And I know I've kept some people in suspense with my "monster-fic," but that won't happen till next week on Friday at the earliest, when school gets out. Sorry. Same with "Always and Always" and "An Unexpected Visitor," which yes, I am continuing, AUV because it was requested lots and I can fit it in nicely with another story concept I've been entertaining, and Always because Bruce and Joker's kid just gives me the warm fuzzies to write about. :D**


	2. Of Arguments and Blinking

Of Arguments and Blinking

Arguing with Harvey Dent was never easy. As he was quite the stubborn man, he never saw when it was wise to give in and drop the whole thing, for he certainly was not one to leave a challenge unmet. His lawyerly mind was also quite difficult to deal with, as it constantly battered all defenses with his sheer charisma while sneaking in a few underhanded remarks and questions that the subject had no choice but to submit to. Always sneaking in another trick he had up his sleeve, with that stupid sheer brilliance and sense that he really _knew_ what he was talking about, and was just trying to _help_ you, that drove the defense witnesses and suspects over the edge into confessing all he needed to hear, and thus prove his point.

Now, combined with Two-Face's anger and unhindered ferocity, he proved an even more formidable rival, while having no inhibitions of smacking his opponent around if they persisted in their unyielding resistance. His courtroom appeal and know-how, coupled with his unstoppable wrath, made him one hell of an arguer.

But Jonathan Crane knew how the mind worked, and surprisingly well at that. Even the most minute of details never evaded his eyes and ears, and he knew how to use them to his advantage. He could see the slight twitches of the facial muscles; hear the tiniest hesitations, to know when he had struck upon a chink in his subject's armor. His extensive studies in psychology had not been for nothing, and he utilized his abilities to his fullest in his debates. He could see Harvey's inner conflict, could _see_ the struggle within his mind between calm logic and the urge to lash out with a punch or two. He could hear how infuriated Dent was becoming, and pounced with his words at opportune moments, working him to the bone as his rival tried to come up with his next move.

But he too felt himself succumbing, and he knew his weakness as he felt it. He too felt himself swept under Harvey's vocal tricks and traps, and certainly couldn't evade his smothering ocean of undiluted _charisma._ It was something he had never held up well against since he had first met the man, and he knew that once its effects set in, it was only a matter of time before he melted in a puddle of goo at Harvey's feet. It was a game they never won, yet could never shy away from.

So as they vied for dominance over the other's methods and maneuvers, Harvey and Jonathan argued over whether they should have eggs or toast for breakfast.

But soon, simple hunger won them over more than either one's skills in verbal jousting, and they agreed out of their mutual headaches from hunger and frustration to just compromise and have both.

As they ate in discontented silence – for both knew the competition was never over until a clear winner was decided – Jonathan cast about for another tactic. Coming up with nothing else to fight about offhand, he decided to see what Harvey's face gave him to work with, so he could plan destruction from there. Looking up to the disfigured visage (and politely ignoring the bits of eggs that were falling out his jaw on the left side of his face), he saw that Harvey had been staring at him too, most likely for the same reason. As blue eyes met electric blue, a single lid flicked over the one healthy eyeball that the ex-lawyer still possessed. He performed the action several times, to the point where Jonathan wasn't sure if it was entirely a reflexive movement or not. Perhaps he had found the meat for his next move.

"Stop that," he snapped, bringing his eyes back down to the toast on his plate.

Harvey cocked his one eyebrow that hadn't been singed away. His mouth on the right side of his face twitched up in a smirk, satisfied that he had provoked annoyance out of his partner. "Stop what?" he asked innocently.

"That…_thing_ you do with your eye."

Harvey tilted his head to the side mockingly, batting his eyelid at a feverish pace. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said, feigning innocence while thoroughly enjoying the frustration he was causing the psychologist. "Why does my blinking bother you so much?"

Jonathan slammed his fork down. "_Because_," he snapped, "I can't tell if you're just blinking, or-" he cut himself off suddenly, as if quite taken aback by what he had just been about to say, and buried his embarrassing suspicion in stabbing at the mess of scrambled eggs on his plate, perhaps to scramble them further until they pleased him.

Harvey chose no retort, content to wait in silence to savor his victory at having made Jonathan Crane break his collected and professional demeanor. He was also genuinely very curious as to what he had thought his blinks had meant, and chose to coax it out with silent patience.

"…or…" Jonathan finally broke the silence some moments later, still staring holes through his scrambled eggs, "…winking seductively at me."

Harvey would have laughed, had he not known how difficult it had been for Jonathan to admit that. But he knew his companion better than that, and at first said nothing, simply eyed him across the table with a reverent interest. Ever since he had effectively lost his left eyelid in the accident, it was certainly a very understandable mistake to make; it was indeed difficult to tell if his innocuous blinking motions of his right eye – made even more frequent and vigorous perhaps to make up for what his left eye lacked in moisture – were in fact meant in a more suggestive manner or not. Especially with the history of the past few months he shared with the doctor.

Then, in an effort to ease the strained silence, he added one last remark to his partner.

"Whatever you want it to be."

Jonathan looked up in surprise, only to see Harvey's eyelid slowly sweep down, then back up again. As both men returned to their plates, Jonathan could barely suppress a grin.

* * *

**In an effort to start one of the three OTHER fics I'm struggling to complete, I decided to revisit this pairing. The idea was just too cute and perfect for them for me to pass up. :) **

**Kind of goes to show that there's really a professionalism/respect dymanic between Harvey and Jonathan that my other three pairings don't really have as much. I think it really makes their relationship the most human of the four. Not all destined and whatnot like Bruce and Joker, not completely overbearingly fluffy/hurt-comfort like Ivy and Harley, not all coy/jealous like Selina and Talia. More like they provide a challenge and a comfort for each other that they never really knew they needed at first (c'mon, arguing for them is like violence for Bats and Joker), and while not all gushy/romantic (because that's not really their style) is always there for them. awww...xD This pairing is starting to grow on me...**


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